December

So excited to decorate for Christmas!

Jaxon could care less!  It's all about his cars.

A big girl and a little girl all at the same time....

You can tell what has dominated my prayers over this last year!

Cutest selfie taker!

Sierra took this pic too.

We don't have any fun around here.

No fun at all:)

It's so hard to get a family pic!

:)

Jaxon loves books! (Another Sierra pic)

Watching the snow begin to fall....

Cheers!

Tree lighting ceremony at Benton County Museum

Too bad that it was too DANG cold to enjoy the week of snow we had!

Well, there were moments of joy.

Making snickerdoodles with mommy.

Playing hospital with daddy.  So grateful to have a healthy husband this year at Christmas!

"Pretty tee"

Christmas morning.

"Santa Claus is coming to town.  But he's not coming down our chimney, that's just silly.  Our chimney is not big enough for Santa so he must just come in through the door right Mommy?"  Then I make a sound like the helium is slowly being let out of a balloon.  I have the hardest time answering Santa questions.  I seriously have an easier time answering where babies come from!  It's not that I'm anti-Santa, but I try to be honest with Sierra and always tell her that she can ask me anything.  I talk about how important it is to tell the truth.  So, "The story of Santa started with a man named Saint Nick....."  The girl wants to believe and I can't make myself come right out and say that Santa is not real.  So I talk a lot about the story of Santa.  So far, that's working fine.  Is it just me?  Am I a weirdo?  Maybe I'd prefer that no one answered that.

December was a busy month.  We had a week of snow and were basically stuck at home because without chains we couldn't get out of our driveway.  Jesse made it to work every day because we do have chains for one of our cars.  It was so cold that the kids couldn't really even enjoy the snow.  Sierra and Jesse did get out one day and have some fun, but other than that we stayed in and stayed warm.  Jaxon refuses to wear his hat or gloves and hates his boots, so he doesn't get to go outside if it's not above 40 degrees.  Stinker. 

Both of the kids got colds just in time for Christmas.  What a pleasant gift.  They were luckily fairly minor sniffles that didn't amount to weeks of snotty faces.  Phew.  We got to enjoy Christmas with both of our families and the kids loved all of the people to play with.  Jaxon is still too little to be very interested in presents, so he really only had one present under our tree (we did the same when Sierra was uninterested in gifts) and Sierra was grateful for her gifts and was VERY excited that she got the weird, stiff, kitty that meows and purrs, just like she wished for. 

Sierra is going through a phase of being fearful.  It makes me sad because she has always been so confident and unafraid.  I wouldn't say that she is timid now, but definitely more aware, and can get embarrassed easily.   She doesn't want to sing in the front at church anymore and the last time she danced up in front of people she closed her eyes so that "no one could see" her.  One of her recent fears is that a bug is going to fly out of the toilet and get her while she is going potty.  A moth flew by her while she was using my parents bathroom and she freaked out.  She's never been afraid of bugs but something about it just terrified her.  So now she always makes me promise that there is nothing going to fly out of the toilet.  She also is worried about monsters at night and takes FOREVER to go to bed.  After 6 trips into our room to give us random tidbits of information, ask questions, or beg one of us to lay with her, she eventually goes to sleep. 

Jaxon is talking more and more.  I love hearing him call Sierra "Sissy" and how he says "Oh Boy!" if he's excited.  He sings lots of songs and is still so interested in his ABC's and numbers.  He's got uppercase and lowercase down to a T as well as his numbers.  He loves to be read to and can really sit and listen to a long story.  He has an amazing attention span for a little one.  He's so sweet and affectionate and I feel so blessed every day to have such loving children.  Some days are rough and I'm tired and grumpy but hearing Sierra say her prayers at night and getting snuggles from my babies before bed makes me feel so grateful that I'm a mommy.  Merry Christmas everyone!  I hope 2014 is a year full of joy for your family.